Hellenism

                                           

Dodekatheism originated in and is practiced in Greece and in other countries. Leaders of the movement claimed in 2005 that there are as many as 2,000 adherents to the Hellenic tradition in Greece, with an additional 100,000 who have "some sort of interest".^[1]No official estimates exist for devotees worldwide.

There are no official naming practices for this religion, but there does seem to be an informal naming convention, based on academically accepted descriptive definitions, adhered to by groups and most individual believers. Hellenism is the most common term, used chiefly as an identifier for the modern polytheistic religion by its adherents today but it can also refer to the ancient Greek religion and culture.^[2] The term originally stems from a systematization and revival of Greek religion done by the Roman EmperorJulian. Julian used the term to describe traditional religion of the Greeks^[3] (The word can also have other unrelated meanings in modern Greek.) Additionally, subgroups use a variety of names to distinguish branches focusing on specific schools of thought, or modern traditions focusing on the public practices of individual city-states. These subgroups can be described as denominations.Hellenic religion, and Hellenic polytheism can be said to be used interchangeably to refer to the religion, and are synonymous. The phrase Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism refers more to the methodology used by some practitioners to revive a version of the religion, than the religion itself. Not all Hellenes are reconstructionists. Dodekatheism and Olympianism are other names, though less commonly used.

The first Greek organization to openly support the religious revival of Hellenic religion was Ύπατο Συμβούλιο των Ελλήνων Εθνικών (Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes or YSEE), established in 1997,^[4] and is publicly active. YSEE is a founding member of theWorld Congress of Ethnic Religions (now European Congress of Ethnic Religions) and hosted the seventh annual WCER Congress in June 2004.^[5] YSEE is also a member of the European Union's action programme to combat discrimination. The organization primarily refers to the religion as the "Ethnic Polytheistic" or "genuine Hellenism"^[6] and its practitioners as Ethnikoi Hellenes, "Ethnic [National] Hellenes".

Another very active organization since its founding at 2008 is Labrys religious community. Labrys has focused primarily on the religious aspects of Hellenism or Hellenic (Greek) polytheism, avoiding anti-Christian rhetoric and politics, establishing weekly public rituals ^[7] and engaging in other aspects of practical promotion of polytheism like theater and music.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]} Labrys has also promoted among Hellenes worldwide the need to actively practice household worship and the idea that family and community should be the starting points of religious practice.^[15] The community has been organizing since 2008 the largest festival in Athens and also actively participates and supports the religious aspects of the oldest Hellenic festival in Greece, Promitheia^[16] which is held every year on Mount Olympus. Labrys religious community has published the book about Hellenic Polytheism : Household Worship. Createspace. 2014-11-20. ISBN 9781503121881. .

Other Greek organizations, such as Dodekatheon (Δωδεκάθεον, Dōdekátheon, Of the Twelve Gods),^[17] the Helliniki Hetaireia Archaiophilon (Societas Hellenica Antiquariorum), the Thyrsos use a combination of terms interchangeably, including ἑλληνικὴ θρησκεία (hellēnikē thrēskeîa, translated as "Hellenic religion"), Hellenic polytheistic religion, and Hellenism.^[18][19]

Dodecatheon and YSEE both use the terms "traditional", "ethnic", and "genuine" to refer to their religious practices. Greek polytheist author Vlassis Rassias has written a popular series of books on "Christian persecutions against the Hellenes," and the "Church of the Hellenes" organization goes so far as to call for the wholesale extermination of Christianity,^[20] while the Athens-based group Ellinaisemphasizes "world peace and the brotherhood of man